The present invention relates to a bingo game, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for identifying a winner in a bingo game.
Bingo is a popular and well-known game. In a conventional bingo game, players are provided with bingo cards that have a matrix of five rows and five columns. Normally, the numbers 1 through 75 are divided into five sets, with each set having fifteen numbers. Each set is associated with a vertical column in the matrix and each column from left to right is assigned one letter from the word xe2x80x9cbingo.xe2x80x9d Frequently, the center space in the matrix is a xe2x80x9cfree space.xe2x80x9d Bingo balls are individually numbered from 1 through 75 and are mixed together. Balls are then randomly selected one at a time. As each selected number is announced, each player covers any corresponding number on his or her bingo card. Play continues until a player achieves a predefined winning arrangement or pattern of spots on the bingo card.
Traditionally, there are twelve winning arrangements or pattern of spots. Specifically, in a traditional bingo game, a player wins if the player covers any of the five vertical columns, any of the five horizontal rows or either of the two diagonals on the bingo card. Other winning combinations include the four comers of the bingo card, the eight spots immediately surrounding the free space, or a diamond pattern. The xe2x80x9cbingo bossxe2x80x9d who operates the bingo game will announce the winning arrangement or pattern of spots at the beginning of each game.
Bingo is a popular form of entertainment. Bingo games can be played for free, purely for amusement, or for a fee, as a form of gambling. Many government and private entities conduct bingo games for a fee. Government-conducted bingo games generally involve a larger pool of players and offer players the chance to win a larger prize, while also providing revenues to the government entity. When players must pay to participate in a bingo game, players purchase bingo cards for use during a particular bingo session and winning players receive a payout from the operator or gaming establishment. For each bingo game, the first player to obtain a winning pattern wins the game.
Typically, government-conducted lottery systems utilize a central lottery computer to communicate with remote point-of-sale lottery terminals. The Rhode Island Lottery Commission (the xe2x80x9cRILCxe2x80x9d) proposed a state-wide bingo game, referred to as xe2x80x9cPower Bingoxe2x80x9d in 1997, where players purchased bingo cards from the remote point-of-sale lottery terminals and the game was to be broadcast on television. Although the Power Bingo game was suspended before ever being played, bingo cards were sold by the RILC for an initial game. The point-of-sale lottery terminals requested bingo cards from the central lottery computer. After the central lottery computer generated the bingo card information, the point-of-sale lottery terminal, under the direction of the central lottery computer, printed the official bingo cards. The central lottery computer maintained a database containing the bingo card information for each bingo card that was issued.
Since the players were remote from the venue where the numbers were drawn, the RILC needed to determine whether any players had won before drawing a new ball. In addition, after each ball was drawn, the RILC proposed to broadcast statistics indicating in real-time the number of players that were three balls, two balls, one ball and zero balls (a winner) away from a winning pattern. Thus, after each ball was drawn, the RILC was required to perform a brute force search of all issued bingo cards to compare the current status of each player""s bingo cards to templates corresponding to winning patterns. Such brute force searching is very time consuming, and possibly unmanageable, when the number of issued bingo cards is large. For a bingo game to run smoothly, and to maintain the players"" interest, it is estimated that a ball should be drawn approximately every five seconds.
Similarly, a number of private entities, such as Gamesville.com, allow a potentially large pool of players to play bingo over the Internet for prizes. In such an on-line implementation, players typically access a web site and request one or more bingo cards. A central server maintains a database containing the bingo card information for each bingo card that is issued. Again, since the players are remote from the venue where the numbers were drawn, a mechanism is needed to determine whether a player has won before drawing the next ball. At least one such on-line bingo game requires players to mark their own bingo cards as numbers are drawn and to submit a request to confirm that the player has won, when the player believes they have a winning pattern.
As apparent from the above-described deficiencies with conventional bingo games, a need exists for an improved method for promptly identifying a winner in a bingo game. A further need exists for an improved method for determining the number of balls that each player is away from a winning pattern.
Generally, a method and apparatus are disclosed for identifying a winner in a bingo game. The bingo system includes a network for transferring information between a central game processor and one or more remote point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Players may obtain bingo cards from point-of-sale (POS) terminals that physically print bingo cards for players in an embodiment where the player appears in person to purchase tickets, or from point-of-sale (POS) terminals that permit players to play bingo in an on-line environment.
According to one aspect of the invention, the game processor maintains a linked list identifying each card in play containing each possible value. For example, in a conventional bingo game having 75 possible values, the game processor maintains 75 different linked lists. Each entry in a linked list includes a pointer to the next element in the linked list. In addition, the game processor represents each bingo card as a bitmap containing an entry corresponding to each square on the bingo card. Each entry in the linked list also identifies the particular square on the bingo card containing the corresponding value, thereby allowing the appropriate entry in the corresponding bitmap to be identified.
As each number is drawn, the game processor utilizes the linked list to identify all of the bingo cards in play having the drawn number. As each card containing the drawn number in the linked list is identified, the game processor marks the corresponding entry in the bitmap. According to another aspect of the invention, each possible winning pattern in a bingo game is likewise represented as a bitmap. If a bit in the winning bitmap is set to a value of 1, then the corresponding square must be set on a player""s bingo card in order to match the pattern.
The present invention allows winning players to be identified by comparing the card bitmap to each of the possible winning bitmaps. Generally, the comparison determines whether all the 1""s that are set in any bitmap for a winning pattern are also set in the card bitmap. If so, the card is a winning card. In one preferred implementation, only those cards containing the number just drawn are compared to the possible winning bitmaps.